Paradoxes are everywhere and natural and part of living a nuanced life. Often we limit ourselves by trying to fix paradoxes with Either/Or thinking. With Both/And Thinking we can move beyond duality into innovative, creative, and integrative solutions by reframing our questions and rethinking outcomes. In this episode, Dr. Diana Hill and Dr. Marianne Lewis explore paradoxes in our relationships, organizations, health behaviors, and careers. Learn how your conflicts and tensions hold opportunities for growth and flexibility. It’s how we approach them that matters.

Listen and Learn:

1. What is a paradox
2. The three elements of a paradox
3. 4 types of paradoxes
4. 3 key steps in entering a paradox
5. What is both/and thinking
6. Paradoxes of acceptance and change in couples therapy
7. What are creative integration and consistent inconsistency
8. Why you shouldn’t stop at Pros and Cons Lists
9. The S curve of achievement
10. The innovation of Lego and other successful companies that enter the paradox
11. Vicious downward spirals of either or thinking
12. How to use a mission statement to create a boundary and purpose
13. The paradox of simplicity and complexity
14. Paradoxes in daily life like exercise

About Dr. Marianne Lewis

Marianne W. Lewis is dean of the University of Cincinnati’s Lindner College of Business. Renowned for her research on organizational paradoxes surrounding innovation and leadership, her latest book Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems, co-authored with Wendy Smith, is published by Harvard Business Review. Lewis has been recognized among the world’s most-cited researchers in her field (Web of Science) and received the Decade Award (2021) from the Academy of Management Review. Her work also appears in such media outlets as Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Newsweek, and MarketWatch.

Related Resources

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• Leave feedback for the show
• Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems
• Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis 
• Learn more about Both And Thinking
• Connect with Marianne Lewis on Linked In and Twitter
• The Paradoxical Self by Kirk Schneider
• From Strength to Strength by Author Brooks

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Thank you to the team Craig, Angela Stubbs, and Ashley Hiatt. Thank you to Benjamin Gould of Bell & Branch for your beautiful music.

Remember when you become psychologically flexible, you become free.